This invention relates to a yarn feed for knitting machines, and more particularly, to an improved feed finger for use on circular Links and Links knitting apparatus for the manufacture therewith of plaited knit fabrics.
A wide variety of knitting machines are known, including various circular Links and Links knitting apparatus. Such machines are used, amongst other purposes, in making striped or plaited fabrics in which more than one yarn is fed to single selected needles so that when the knit is completed, one yarn lies above the other, thereby providing the striping. It is critical in such operations to be able to feed the yarns precisely and in a predetermined manner to obtain uniform stitching, rather than random knitting. A wide variety of yarn feeds for such knitting operations have been developed, including a variety of finger constructions for feeding one or more yarns to the knitting needles. For example, feed or guide fingers which have two eyelets or openings for feeding yarns to be knitted to form plaited fabrics are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 348,503; 851,042; 1,129,261; 1,204,445; and 1,584,099.
Yarn feed fingers are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,846,892; 3,263,454; 2,780,422; and 4,589,266. In addition, plaiting feed mechanisms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,930,386 and 2,796,752.
However, these known devices usually are disadvantageous in that when using them uniform feeding is, in fact, not accomplished. Therefore, rather than being used in making plaited knit outer fabrics, they are used generally only in making selvedges wherein uniformity is not critical.
To overcome the foregoing disadvantages as well as others, the known machines have been provided with a carrier and plaiting plate positioned remote from the normal feed fingers and needles which operate to supply the second or plaiting yarn directly to the needles. The plaiting plates were not capable of making the selvedges unless one or more sections of the knitting maching machines were taken out of action. This necessitates shutting down one portion of a circular knitting apparatus while they perform their function on another portion. Thus, the machines were not able to alternatively provide plaiting or selvedging without considerable downtime cost.
There exists, therefore, a need for yarn feed fingers which do not exhibit such disadvantages, especially in thhe manufacture of plaited knit fabrics. The present invention fulfills such need.